Part of a multi-million-euro investment fund has been spent to bridge the digital divide for 1.3 million Urktelecom customers in Ukraine, as the operator hailed its strategy in sourcing international investment.

Almost three years after acquiring Telenor’s operations in Bulgaria, Hungary and Serbia, PPF Group has confirmed that it will stop using the Norwegian group’s branding from 1^st March 2022.

Earlier this week, Latvia’s Public Utilities Commission SPRK closed its tender of 1.5GHz spectrum without confirming the results. Bite Latvia has now stated that it will acquire spectrum in the 1432MHz-1452MHz range for EUR200,000.

Latvia’s Public Utilities Commission (SPRK) has concluded its tender for 1.5GHz spectrum permits, with the regulator’s council due to approve the results by the end of January 2022.

Croatian operator Telemach has closed its acquisition of a majority holding in local broadband provider Optima Telekom.

Slovenia’s government is mulling a potential sale of all or part of its holding in Telekom Slovenije.

There’s been no let-up in 5G activity lately, with Zambia’s MTN announcing the country’s first 5G launch and Telia highlighting a dynamic spectrum sharing-based 5G launch now underway in Lithuania.

Investment firm Kismet Capital Group, through its joint venture with telecoms company Megafon, can apparently now boast the largest tower asset portfolio in Russia after a major acquisition involving a Russian infrastructure company.

North Macedonia’s Mtel – which currently offers satellite TV services – has announced plans to begin a mobile offering in spring 2022.

Following a competitive auction process, Latvian fixed broadband operator Tet is acquiring 100% of Telia’s local B2B unit Telia Latvija for EUR10.75 million (US$12.1 million).

Montenegrin regulator EKIP (Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services) confirmed that the country’s latest round of spectrum auctions saw 220MHz of frequencies sold.

Latvia’s Public Utilities Commission (Sabiedrisko Pakalpojumu Regulesanas Komisija / SPRK) has named the winning bidders in its recent auctions for technology neutral spectrum licences in the 700MHz band.

Nokia is extending its partnership with Tele2 to deploy 5G RAN in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in a long-term deal.

Swiatlowod Inwesticje (trading under the FiberCo brand), the provider of telecommunication services based in Warsaw, Poland, has started a cooperation with Polsat Plus Group.

Slovak operators Swan and Swan Mobile (4ka) merged to create a full-fledged telecommunications operator with an offer of convergent, fixed, and mobile services.

Orange Polska has signed a new long-term PPA for the purchase of renewable energy in Poland.

Elisa Estonia has signed a five-year deal with Nokia that will see the Finnish vendor replace the operator’s existing 4G infrastructure and deploy 5G RAN nationwide.

The Czech Telecommunication Office (Cesky telekomunikacni urad, CTU) has extended the allocation of frequencies to operators in the 2100 MHz band for another 20 years.

Estonia looks set to offer three licences for 5G-ready 3.5GHz spectrum at auction in the first quarter of next year.

Polish telecommunications provider Orange Polska (Orange Poland) has deployed private LTE and 5G networks at Nokia's factory and R&D facility in the city of Bydgoszcz.

Telekom Srbija is to receive a €70 million ($79.4 million) loan from the EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB) for the rollout of a 5G telecommunications network and the extension of the existing 4G network across the Republic of Serbia.

Poland’s regulator UKE (Urzad Komunikacji Elektronicznej / Office of Electronic Communications) has confirmed its reallocation plans for the 2100MHz band.

Hungarian IT service management company 4iG said it has signed a final contract to buy an 80.27% stake in Albanian telecommunications operator Albtelecom from Cetel Telecom, a majority-owned subsidiary of Turkey’s diversified holding company Calik Holding.

PPF Telco, which controls over 90% of telecommunication company O2 Czech Republic (O2 CR), has obtained approval from the Czech National Bank (CNB) to start the buyout of shares from minority shareholders.

Mavenir, the network software provider, announced that T-Mobile has become the first operator in the Czech Republic to enable customers who own select smartwatches, to connect to their existing mobile number.

Starlink Internet Services, a division of the SpaceX aerospace company, plans to apply for the appropriate licences to sell satellite-based internet commercially in India. This happened after last week’s announcement from India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) that the company had no right to sell broadband connections in the country as it had not yet been licensed to do so.

The Czech units of O2 and T-Mobile have confirmed that they shut down their 3G networks on 30^th November.

Polsat Plus Group in Poland has officially announced the completion of the merger of its two mobile network subsidiaries, Polkomtel, trading under the Plus brand, and Aero2.

Ukrainian fibre infrastructure and digital services provider Datagroup has tapped Cisco to modernise its backbone network.

Veon has closed the sale of its Russian mobile towers to local firm Service-Telecom, a partner of VimpelCom’s Beeline, for RUB70.65 billion (US$957 million).

North Macedonia’s Agency for Electronic Communications (AEK) has begun a tender process for 5G-ready spectrum in the 700MHz and 3.6GHz (3400MHz-3800MHz) bands.

Estonia’s parliament The Rigiikogu has approved new legislation that effectively bans the country’s operators from using network equipment from China’s Huawei.